1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ventilated footwear including specifically sneakers and shoes having a ventilation system in which air is circulated about the wearer's foot by a pump mechanism located in the shoe sole.
2. The Prior Art
Ventilation systems for footwear have been known and used in the past. A variety of ventilating systems are illustrated in several previously issued U.S. Letters Patents. Some of these include systems which utilize pumping systems to draw air around the foot and move it outwardly of the shoe sole. Some of these are passive systems and include, for example, shoes having perforations in the upper part of the shoe construction. The art known to the applicant which is most relevant includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,653; 4,860,463; 4,995,173; 4,999,932; and 5,068,981.
Famolare, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,653, discloses footwear with snorkel ventilation. A snorkel tube extending along the back of the boot in the heel area provides air to passages. A compression of these passages forces air back out of the tube.
Pin U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,463 discloses footwear having ventilation and shock absorbing properties. The shoe includes a separate elastic pad inserted in the heel portion of the sole and contains a series of elongated holes closed at one end and connected at the other to a transverse ventilation channel having a pair of oppositely aligned one way valves. A series of longitudinally extending channels in the forefoot and instep portions of the sole connect the ventilation channel to the interior of the shoe. A second series of one way valves are located in these longitudinal channels. In this system, air is drawn through the longitudinal channels into the transverse channels and is forced laterally outwardly on either side of the shoe upon the compression of the heel by the wearer's foot. This system requires a specially designed outer sole, an unusually designed elastic pad, located valves on the sides of the shoe, and includes a pump which is not self-flushing.
Spier U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,173 discloses footwear using a pump for purposes of inflating a bladder in the shoe upper. It does not disclose a system for ventilation.
Grim U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,932 discloses a variable support shoe. A pump draws air through an inlet valve in the rear of the shoe and pumps it through an outlet valve into air bladders. The system does not provide ventilation but merely support.
The Jung U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,981 discloses a self-ventilating device for shoe inner soles. The complex insert located in the heel provides an air intake system to a chamber which is compressed against spring tension to exhaust air through side openings. The inlet to this system opens into a hollow formed in the instep and forefoot of the shoe.